Interactive Brokers’ Fee-Generating Trades Set New Record in December

Interactive Brokers LLC (NASDAQ:IBKR) has announced a new milestone growth, this time with the number of fee-generating trades exceeding 2.3 million in December amid a surge in activity from people stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic.
That is about three times the number of daily average revenue trades, or DARTS, reported in the same month a year ago.
The US-listed brokerage saw 2.29 million in DARTs last month, up 200 percent year over year from 771,000 transaction in December 2019. This figure, which reflects one of widely followed industry metric for customer activity, is also slightly higher from the previous record set in back in November at 2.29 million transactions.
Additionally, the discount brokerage has won 36,000 new accounts as volatile markets and renewed stay-at-home restrictions had amplified interest from retail investors. December’s active accounts increased to 1.073 million, or 3 percent higher from November and 55 percent above the previous year’s figure of 690,000 ‎accounts. In October, Interactive Brokers crossed the one million milestone for the first time in the company’s 42-year history.
Interactive Brokers revealed to Finance Magnates that nearly 80 percent of their new clients are coming from outside the US, citing the increasing number of mutual funds and products available to trade in fractions.
Interactive Brokers Expands into Europe
Looking deeper into Interactive Brokers’ latest monthly report, the group’s client margin loans were around $39 billion in December 2020. This figure climbed 18 percent from November 2020 and was also higher by nearly 26 percent against the year prior.
On average, in December 2020, Interactive Brokers charged clients commission fees of $2.42 per order, relative to $2.45 in the previous month. This figure includes exchange, clearing and regulatory fees, with the key products metrics coming out at $1.79 for stocks, $3.68 for equity options, and $4.25 for futures orders.
Ranked as the largest US electronic broker by some measures,  has been expanding its presence in Europe as it continues to grow its international business. The company expects to expand its staffing substantially in 2021 to accommodate its recently-established in Hungary and .
With the addition of its last branch, the Connecticut-based discount brokerage firm now has a physical presence in eleven entities globally.
While IBKR may be looking to grow its business outside of the US, the company has recently agreed to purchase a self-directed retail brokerage segment from online custodian Folio Investing in a push to expand its reach to Main Street investors.